Full % Chance being you rolled your 5% for a misc. weapon, then rolled whatever for the actual piece. There's no cursed miscellaneous weapons, for whatever reason - you're just as likely to find a cursed sword as you are magical ammunition.

In Armor, I've combined the Armor table and the Armor Type table to get started on something more useful for later in this post:

Armor Set

Set Chance

Full % Chance

Hide

1.00%

0.08%

Hide + Shield

1.15%

0.09%

Leather

5.00%

0.40%

Leather + Shield

5.75%

0.46%

Ring, Chain

7.00%

0.56%

R,C + Shield

8.05%

0.64%

Banded, Plate

7.00%

0.56%

B,P + Shield

8.05%

0.64%

Shield

36%

2.88%

Hide (cursed)

0.45%

0.04%

Hide + Shield (c)

0.10%

0.01%

Leather (cursed)

2.25%

0.18%

Leather+Shield (c)

0.50%

0.04%

R,C (cursed)

3.15%

0.25%

R,C + S (cursed)

0.70%

0.06%

B,P (cursed)

3.15%

0.25%

B,P + S (c)

0.70%

0.06%

Shield (cursed)

10%

0.80%

So, warping this a bit, let's look at the chances our undefined magical martial item resolves to any given type, and then the percentage of classes that can use that item, by the expanded class demographics (NPC Parties table, pg 248):

Occurrence for all Martial Magic Items

Item Type

% Chance

% PCs can use it:

Swords

61.76%

78.69%

Arrows

3.24%

71.75%

Axes

1.76%

73.60%

Bows

1.03%

71.75%

Bolts

3.24%

71.75%

Daggers

0.88%

88.41%

Slings

0.88%

81.47%

Spears

1.76%

78.69%

War Hammers

1.91%

87.95%

Hide

0.34%

90.26%

w/shield

0.29%

65.27%

Leather

1.71%

90.26%

w/shield

1.47%

65.27%

Chain

2.39%

65.27%

w/shield

2.06%

65.27%

Plate

2.39%

60.64%

w/shield

2.06%

60.64%

Shield

10.82%

65.27%

On the armors, I went with the given class being able to use the whole set - so, the leather and the shield counts the fighter, but not the thief.

Since our treasure tables don't break out what type of sword it is, we don't either - the "magic sword" found 61% of the time presumes it can be used by any class that has "* sword" listed in it's proficient weapons.

If you're interested, the class breakdown is as such:

Class

% Chance

Nightblade

1.85%

Spellsword

2.78%

Explorer

4.63%

Bladedancer

6.94%

Cleric

9.72%

Fighter

36.57%

Thief

11.57%

Mage

9.72%

Assassin

6.94%

Bard

4.63%

Vaultguard

2.78%

Craftpriest

1.85%

It hasn't been changed for the PC classes. However, out of the PC classes, only the 3 Dwarf classes, the Wonderworker, Priestess, Warlock, and Witch cannot use some type of sword.

Let's look at another breakdown:

Occurrence for all Martial Magic Items

Item Type

% Chance

% D@W Units Trained

% D@W Armed

% Guns Units Trained

% Guns Armed

Swords

61.76%

87.50%

66.67%

95.45%

89.74%

Arrows

3.24%

54.17%

28.57%

0.00%

0.00%

Axes

1.76%

70.83%

21.43%

22.73%

2.56%

Bows

1.03%

54.17%

28.57%

0.00%

0.00%

Bolts

3.24%

16.67%

4.76%

0.00%

0.00%

Daggers

0.88%

100.00%

7.14%

0.00%

0.00%

Slings

0.88%

4.17%

2.38%

0.00%

0.00%

Spears

1.76%

100.00%

23.81%

22.73%

0.00%

War Hammers

1.91%

12.50%

2.38%

13.64%

10.26%

Hide

0.34%

100.00%

4.76%

100.00%

0.00%

w/shield

0.29%

100.00%

0.00%

77.27%

0.00%

Leather (Jack)

1.71%

100.00%

45.24%

100.00%

46.15%

w/shield

1.47%

100.00%

28.57%

72.73%

10.26%

Chain (Half Plate)

2.39%

54.17%

23.81%

72.73%

35.90%

w/shield

2.06%

54.17%

9.52%

63.64%

12.82%

Plate (Full Plate)

2.39%

37.50%

23.81%

22.73%

20.51%

w/shield

2.06%

37.50%

21.43%

22.73%

7.69%

Shield

10.82%

100.00%

59.52%

72.73%

30.77%

The percentage of D@W trained units, that, if that training followed them to an adventuring class directly, would be able to use the item, plus the number of unit types/subtypes actually armed with the item. I'm allowing polearms to be spears in this case.

By way of a little explanation, Alex mentioned on the boards that D@W unit training is "cumulative": i.e., Heavy Infantry know what Light Infantry know, and a unit like Cataphract Cavalry know pretty much everything but longbows and crossbows. And, you don't train conscripts to be Light Infantry D - you train them as Light Infantry, and it's a wide skill set.

I'm still fiddling with the Guns of War units, but I think this is what I like based on their qualifying conscripts vs. training time - for example, I'm betting Coutilliers, Reiters, and Harquebusiers are all cross-trained, since they're the same qualifying conscripts and the same training time, and their differences are the same as Light Infantry A->G in D@W - armaments only.

A 5th-7th level mage could double her XP income from magical item creation doing hammers instead of swords - getting 5,000-(GpThreshold) twice in the month.

At any rate - 61.76% of magical martial items are some sort of sword, which is ~80% of all magical weapons, and they can be used by ~78% of player character classes, or ~87%+ of trained combatants.

It's cultural - the assumed game world mirrors our own here. Swords are such a large portion of the magical item list because we, generically, want them to be. Swords have held a certain status across a large swath of cultures around the world, and that's been carried into a game written initially to emulate medieval European warfare that got dragons stuck in.

It's such a bias that classes who can make magical weapons evidently make more swords than anything else despite the fact they get more out of making hammers.

It's such a bias that the only class as a group that has martial training and can't use swords (excepting the cleric, which is theoretically a religious choice) and has martial training is the Dwarven non-Vaultguard classes, because we are purposefully making them culturally distinct from humans. (note, above, the occurrence of Dwarven Craftpriests and magical hammers roughly coincide...)

We are the sword.

I don't see any classes' inability to use magical swords as an issue - they are largely unable to utilize weapons in general or have made a conscious or cultural decision not to.

I'd be more interested in what it would mean to simplify the proficiency system beyond the specification of individual weapons - focus more on what it takes to master the mechanics of fighting with a weapon type - or for an able combatant to not be reduced to a peasant's level if they pick up an unfamiliar, yet regular, weapon.

Zaharan Ruinguards, for example, are not proficient in daggers. From the class writeup: "The chthonic powers a ruinguard channels revel in the chaos and brutality of face-to-face combat, and frown upon weapons and attacks which draw blood from a distance." Is there anything more intimate than literally embracing your opponent as you slip a dagger into his heart?

The ruinguard strikes me as the sort of butcher who can kill you with anything, but greatly prefers weapons that slash and pierce - actively practices it, is better with it, in fact. Same with the bladedancer, really - if you catch a bladedancer unarmed, in a room full of hammers, should you have the advantage?

Certainly not. She'll atone for her transgression in your blood.

Less picturesquely, the cleric's lack of proficiency in blades is more specifically limiting if they could absolutely use them with some skill - but choose not to. Denial of opportunity via player choice versus denial via mechanics.